Indian handset company Micromax has launched EzMail, a push mail service that it is providing bundled with its 3G and WiFi enabled, dual SIM QWERTY phone Q80. The handset is priced at Rs 4999, and the company is pitching Ezmail as its key feature.
What we don’t know, though, is which telecom operators Micromax has tied up with for delivering Ezmail, and how much the service is priced at for the consumer. There is no information on Micromax’s ezmail page, and there we are yet to receive a response from Micromax on partnerships. Two of its push mail competitors – Blackberry and Nokia have distribution with multiple Indian telecom operators in place, while Rediff.com has tied up with MTNL, but appears to be struggling to expand beyond.
With Android handsets making their way into India, and Gmail available in as push mail, I wonder if there is still a market for Micromax to expand into:
Blackberry mail tends to be expensive, which can limit its user base in the country, and Android can impact this with its free Gmail integration. It is this is the market which Rediff was looking to disrupt, by pricing its mail at Rs 49 per month.
Micromax, with its wider distribution, and the fact that the mail is integrated with the handset, is more likely to have the same target market as Rediff, rather than that of Blackberry. Micromax can perhaps target the SME space with this, perhaps offer customized solutions for bulk purchases.
Do you consumers would buy the Q80?
